Watchdog Group Wants California to Look into Claims in ProPublica Report

Consumer Watchdog, a California-based advocacy group, is asking the state’s insurance commissioner to open an investigation into the alleged redlining uncovered by a ProPublica report that claims that four auto insurance companies in California mark up prices by as much as 32 percent for drivers in minority neighborhoods compared to white neighborhoods with similar risk.

Consumer Watchdog asked the Department of Insurance to confirm or refute the report’s findings by opening a formal, public investigation and requiring insurers to submit their risk data by ZIP code.

According to the report, California did better than the three other states reviewed – Illinois, Missouri and Texas. However, the report found that a handful of major carriers charged at least 10 percent more in riskier minority ZIP codes than in ZIP codes were there were a majority of non-minorities.